Tag Archives: Security & Ransomware

Crypto Rom – an international digital currency scam ring – appears to have grown heavily over just the last year. The organization works by engaging in romance scams in which both iPhone and Android users are duped into thinking someone is interested in them after meeting on Tinder and other social media apps. From there, they are often tricked into giving the scammer cryptocurrency. Crypto Rom Has Expanded Quite a Bit Cybersecurity ring Sophos says that Crypto Rom is...

A Canadian government employee thought to be involved in a series of crypto-related ransomware attacks has been extradited to the United States to face judgement. Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins – who worked as an IT consultant for Public Works and Government Services in Canada – is believed to have carried out attacks that led to approximately $28 billion in bitcoin being paid out by targeted individuals and enterprises throughout the Americas. Vachon-Desjardins Will Face...

According to a new report issued by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), scams involving crypto are now the second most prominent and risky. The BBB Publishes Crypto Scam Report In the year 2020, crypto scams were still relatively thin. While they occurred on a regular basis, they only placed seventh on the BBB list. However, in 2020, crypto scams moved into second place, suggesting that they now occur much more often than anyone could have anticipated. While crypto scams...

Early last week, authorities in the United States filed criminal and civil charges against a crypto executive and his sister for allegedly defrauding investors out of millions of dollars with the help of a little token called Ormeus Coin. Ormeus Coin – A Tool for Evil? John Barksdale and his sibling JonAtina are accused of lying about the profitability and value of Ormeus Coin and its mining assets. Allegedly, the asset was backed by more than $250 million through a...

Satish Kumbhani – the founder of cryptocurrency investment company Bit Connect – has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation amongst other crimes. Bit Connect Is Facing the Call of Justice Bit Connect is believed to have been at the forefront of a $2.4 billion crypto Ponzi scheme. U.S. attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California explained in a statement: This indictment alleges a massive...

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco says that a new division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been formed to crack down on cyber fraud and tackle bad actors in the crypto space. Lisa Monaco Says Crypto Security in the U.S. Is a Big Deal The United States as of late appears to be putting the crypto industry at the forefront of its priorities list, though this hasn’t always been a good thing. The recent infrastructure bill passed last summer, for example,...

It’s a real problem getting your crypto account hacked, but if it contains the funds you’re going to use to retire, well… Then the situation becomes even bigger, and for several customers of IRA Financial Trust – a firm that allows its clients to invest their retirement funds in digital assets – this truth is hitting home right about now. IRA Financial Trust Sees a Lot of Money Disappear IRA Financial Trust has recently had about $36 million in client-owned digital funds...

Dr. Anders Apgar is the latest victim of a crypto scam that utilized bots to steal most of the digital currency he had been adding to his account over the past several years. How Dr. Anders Apgar Walked into the Thieves’ Hands The scam began with a series of what he thought were robocalls and naturally, he tried to ignore them. However, the calls kept on going, and eventually, his wife started to get buzzes on her phone. Eventually, Apgar decided he couldn’t ignore them...

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis has published a new report suggesting that cybercriminals stationed in Russia have made off with approximately $400 million in stolen digital currency funds. Cybercrime in Russia Is Booming Chainalysis says that much of this money was garnered through extortion and ransomware attacks. The news plays on the idea that crypto crime has grown heavily in recent years, with the blockchain firm stating in recent documents that billions of...

The Justice Department has arrested a couple in New York for their alleged participation in a crypto scam that occurred roughly six years ago. Ilya Lichtenstein – age 34 – and his wife Heather Morgan, age 31, have been charged with laundering funds garnered through a massive $3.6 billion cryptocurrency hack that targeted popular digital currency exchange Bitfinex in 2016. The Crypto Space Still Sees Its Fair Share of Hacks Cryptocurrency hacks and thievery in the world...